From a fan's point of view, then, I think my ambivalence might just be because a movie doesn't let you stop and think the way a book can. And these books just have too many juicy, thought-provoking concepts that get lost in a movie. (But at least it wasn't Dune.)

How about if you weren't a fan? The movie held my daughter's interest - there's enough physical comedy and silliness, but she also caught many of the more advanced scientific jokes and puns. "You have to pay attention to it" was her ultimate judgment, although it won't be a movie that she'll watch over and over. (Possibly that's because neither Orlando Bloom nor Daniel Radcliffe is in it.).

Finally, what do you get extra on the DVD version? First, the menu system for the DVD's options mimics that of the Hitchhiker's Guide interface in the movie, which is a nice touch. There is the almost obligatory "Making of.." mini-documentary, some deleted scenes, a couple of "really" deleted scenes of the actors goofing around, and a sing-along version of the song "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish", which is actually a title of one of the later books in this series. There are two additional audio commentaries, one by the director Garth Jennings, accompanied by Freeman and the actor Bill Nighy, who plays one of the smaller roles in the movie, Slaterbartfast. The second commentary features the executive producer Robbie Stamp and Sean Solle, a colleague of Douglas Adams. This second commentary works mostly to show how much Adams was involved in the adaptation.

Overall, my ambivalence probably comes from the fact that, while this isn't a bad movie, I realize that it comes from a great book, and thus it ultimately comes up short. (But at least it isn't Dune.)